FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT VIENNA PHILHARMONIC - PAGE 3

Country Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives: Country Music (Columbia). Marty Stuart is a throwback in every sense of the word, from the image he cuts with his wind-blown hair and endless closet of glittering cowboy suits to the backwoods sound he delivers. He is also a remarkably straightforward artist, so when he calls his new collection Country Music, that's what he means to provide. The host of the ongoing Marty Party gets it right with a not-to-be-missed hoot of an album, a rich and varied assortment of top-notch tunes from someone serious about making them.

The Vienna Radio Symphony doesn't exactly have a monopoly on the orchestral business in Austria's capital. There's the little matter of the Vienna Philharmonic, which has been one of the world's leading orchestras for decades. The city's music lovers also can turn to the Vienna Symphony, which has had shining moments of its own. That may sound like a tough situation for the radio orchestra -- which, founded in 1969, is the youngest of the three groups. But conductor Dennis Russell Davies, its music director, sees things differently.

Claudio Abbado, the 56-year-old Italian who is music director of the Vienna State Opera, was elected Sunday as chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, succeeding the late Herbert von Karajan. Abbado accepted the post by telephone, although details of his contract have yet to be negotiated. The Berlin Philharmonic is widely considered one of the finest, if not the finest, orchestras in the world, and its chief conductor post is among the most prestigious appointments in classical music.

Set in the Alps, this charming old town, with its 12th century fortress and Baroque churches, is celebrated for being the place of Mozart's birth. It's also the site of the eponymous festival, a mecca for music lovers since 1920. This summer marked the final year of Gerard Mortier's controversial decade as the Salzburg Festival's artistic director. The established emphasis on Mozart, 19th century Austro-German music and conventional opera stagings -- honed under the tight control of previous director Herbert von Karajan -- was transformed under the confrontational Belgian administrator.

It may take a little digging, but it is possible to accumulate a sizable collection of recordings conducted by Wilhelm Furtwangler. It is certainly worth the effort. Thanks to the rapid rise of the compact disc, record companies are re- releasing some of his performances in the new CD format, which usually means considerable sonic improvement. Deutsche Grammophon, for example, has issued invaluable Furtwangler CDs to mark the 100th anniversary of the conductor`s birth. Some of these were brought out on LP a few years ago as part of the extensive collection of Berlin Philharmonic recordings the company touted as part of the orchestra`s centennial.

New Year's Eve was unusually quiet. The typical bustle at liquor stores and supermarkets was slow to materialize. And instead of having their busiest night of the year, numerous bars shuttered their doors. At the Time4Thai restaurant, one of dozens that specialize in Thai cuisine and decor, a sign called on patrons to donate the money they would spend on food to the Red Cross. Throughout Europe, and elsewhere in the world, many people called off parties, canceled fireworks and toned down celebrations in mournful deference to the millions of dead, wounded and homeless from the South Asian tsunami.

Several upscale holiday tours include a visit to Vienna and attendance at the Imperial Ball held there on New Year`s Eve. That ball is only the first of a series of similar elaborate balls during the city`s pre-Lenten season. The public can attend most of them. You can`t get tickets in this country, but here are the dates of some of the most important balls and the addresses to write to for tickets (prices are given in Austrian schillings (AS), with $1 U.S. currently equivalent to about AS 12.8)

VIENNA, Austria -- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died 200 years ago this Dec. 5. As a result, perfectly well-behaved and historically minded cities such as Vienna, Salzburg and other burgs in Austria and Germany have gone a bit batty this year, offering countless concerts, exhibits of varying value and an endless array of products. There are Mozart scarves, Mozart playing cards, Mozart mayonnaise, skis, perfume, miniatures, mints, and millions of Mozart marzipan candies called Mozartkugeln, which were actually eaten during the composer`s lifetime.

Nobody likes a critic, right? Wrong. we think you'll love _ or at least like _ Lise, Clare, Andrea and Sibyl. They are the girls who created girls on film (http://www.girlsonfilm.com), a sassy Web zine devoted to "Chicks, Flicks and Politicks." Forget the summary thumbs-up or -down reviews _ there aren't any. But there are plenty of insightful _ and caustic _ critiques on everything from a film's poor plot to a character's bad coif. "We've definitely got an attitude," says Lise, who credits the site's success to its tone.

It was music to my ears when I heard that the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra had ended its ban on female musicians. The method they employed for 155 years to discriminate was simple: Women were not allowed to audition. Only men. A female harpist has played with the 143-member orchestra for 26 years, but never as a real member. Now, Anna Lelkes has been made a full member, and open auditions will be instituted. And, as far as I know, Musik Verein, the hall where the orchestra performs, has not collapsed into a million riffs.